FEB. 2009: VT THEME - 1997 VINTAGE PORT

[Roy Hersh]

For this month, please include all of your VT TNs on 1997 Vintage Ports. Now that they have over a decade of bottle age on them, it is time to revisit this "below-the-radar" vintage.

[Frederick Blais]

Thanks Roy for starting this, I was just logging on to do it as I'm drinking Gould Campbell 1997, very satisfying!!! I'll make a full report later.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Yesss! I gonna drink a Quinta do Estanho 1997, that I've got and is waiting for me.

Later I type the notes :type: .

[Frederick Blais]

Gould Campbell 1997 :

Dark Color, no sign of age on the rim, deep ruby, no purple though. Intense of sweet licorice and plums, this is typical GC. Some chocolate and old wood spices are there too. On the palate, very sweet, full body, dark fruits, good acidity and bitter chewy tannins. Good finish, all balanced with that licorice, plums flavour are coming back too. This is a very well made Port that will age well for at least 2 decades, still a baby!

[Derek T.]

The only 1997 I have at home is Vesuvio. Here is a note I took just a few days ago.

Quinta do Vesuvio 1997 (Decanting +1 Hour)
Inky black. Raw blackcurrant on the nose. Thick and chewy mouthfeel. Strawberry and cherry dominate the fruit tastes. Tons of tannin and a long spicy and warming finish. Delicious.

Decanting +7 days in the fridge
Blackcurrant jam and molases nose. Thick and chewy mouthfeel. Silky smooth with a very long dry finish. Fabulous juice.

This wine is so young I don't really want to open another so soon, so I hope this TN can sneak under the bar and qualify for the Feb VT

Derek

PS: I would love to see a note on the Graham's 97 - I have searched for recent notes on a number of sites and cannot find one. If you have a bottle of G97 to hand, please take one for the team

[Carlos Rodriguez]

As I said before I did try a Quinta do Estanho vintage 1997, and here I share it with you.

First impresion when you see it. It's that you can't even apreciate any difference on the rim colour. It's dark, opaque, alike to mature cramberries. Initially, the smell is very closed, but you can apreciate some sweetness. You can feel the fruit on the taste, medium sweet, with strong alcohol.
2 hours later. The smell has opened. Very agreeable and intense, it incites you to drink it. In mouth, it has lost the fruity, the alcohol and has won in complexity (licorice, humid wood, ..). His sweetness it's medium-low. It's intense, leaving great quantity of aromas in your mouth. Long persitence to be able to enjoy it without hurries.
4 hours later. The smell has lost some intensity, but it still good and complex. In mouth, it's softer and long.
6 hours later. It has lost the alcohol and smoothness in the nose. In mouth, it's soft, complex and persistent.
10 hours later. It still very good (soft, complex and persistent).
First time I did try a Estanho VP, it's very interesting VP to drink from now, but with a long live ahead. I did like it a lot. It has overcome all my expectations on it.
I hope you enjoy your Feb. taste as much as I did .

[Andy Velebil]

1997 Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port

A dark ruby color that is more consistant with a Reserve Ruby Port, way to light for a VP in a major declared year. Interesting nose of pomegranent, red plums, very pungent black cherries and chocolate. This all combined into one of the most bizarre pungent and overripe noses I've smelled on a VP. While the palate mellowed a bit on day 2, it never lost a massive tart bing cherry taste. As if someone picked cherries way to early and then made juice with them. It very much reminded me of unpleasant cherry cough syrup from when I was a kid. The tannins were very soft and barily noticable. However, on day 2 they did become more prominate but were still soft and round with only a very slight bit of dustiness showing on the finish. A very one-dementional VP who's only strong suit was a decent length on a simple straight forward finish. I would have never guessed this to be a VP if served blind, I would have guessed a Ruby Port instead. I've looked through my notes and this is the first time I've had the 1997 VP from Crasto and I must say this particular bottle is the weakest of any VP from them I've had. I would like to try another bottle of this (this was the only bottle I have) to see if this bottle is representative or if this particular bottle was off in some way. 82 points
07/08/09

[Roy Hersh]

I am praying that your bottle does not represent this particular wine or vintage well. If anyone else has tried this before, please DO let us know!

Thanks.

[Andy Velebil]

I am praying that your bottle does not represent this particular wine or vintage well. If anyone else has tried this before, please DO let us know!

Thanks.

So does that mean you have a stash of these in the cellar? I'd also like to hear from others that have had this.

[Roy Hersh]

Yes, Andy, I have an OWC of the Crasto bought pre-release and the ONLY 1997 that I own more than 3 bottles of, except for Niepoort which I own 6 bottles of. Then again, I have 1997s from 24 distinct Port shippers. So I truly hope yours was not a typical bottle.

[Roy Hersh]

Derek

PS: I would love to see a note on the Graham's 97 - I have searched for recent notes on a number of sites and cannot find one. If you have a bottle of G97 to hand, please take one for the team

It just goes to show who doesn't read their newsletter subscription. The prominent Symington dueling horizontal tasting of 1997 vs. 1977 appeared last month. I normally would not include a VP tasted from another month, however, this was somewhat recent AND Derek needed a reference point he can count on.

1997 Graham’s Vintage Port – Opaque cranberry color. Floral fragrances leap out of the glass, along with a purity of grape essence and hint of mint. Medium-full body, with exceptional balance that is noted immediately upon the very first sip. The tell-tale Graham’s sweetness is overt and pleasing here with vibrant acidity to hold its own. There was 40% Touriga Franca in this Port along with 25% Touriga Nacional, 23% mix of old vine field blend grapes and 12% Tinta Barroca. Smooth in the mouth with ripe, wild berry flavors and a pronounced fruit filled finish. This should easily make it to 35-40 years of age with no problem. A very solid Graham’s. 94+ points

[Derek T.]

Thanks, Roy - I promise to read the next one more closely

[Andy Velebil]

Yes, Andy, I have an OWC of the Crasto bought pre-release and the ONLY 1997 that I own more than 3 bottles of, except for Niepoort which I own 6 bottles of. Then again, I have 1997s from 24 distinct Port shippers. So I truly hope yours was not a typical bottle.

Roy, It may be time to crack one of those out and give it a go to see if my bottle was off in some way.

[Glenn E.]

Grr! The 1997 Romariz that I have on order has been delayed. :hoppingmad:

Hopefully it will arrive in the warehouse by the end of this week, get inspected and approved for shipment early next week, and then possibly arrive the last week of the month so I can still get in on the month's VT.

I could open a 1997 Niepoort, but I thought it would be more fun to get something from a lesser-known producer. We already know the Niepoort is good from Roy's notes!

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Grr! The 1997 Romariz that I have on order has been delayed. :hoppingmad:

Hopefully it will arrive in the warehouse by the end of this week, get inspected and approved for shipment early next week, and then possibly arrive the last week of the month so I can still get in on the month's VT.

Glenn, I also hope it arrive this Romariz to you. I want to see how does it taste .

[Frederick Blais]

I could open a 1997 Niepoort, but I thought it would be more fun to get something from a lesser-known producer. We already know the Niepoort is good from Roy's notes!

I'm not sure that because Roy did stack up on this it means that is good. Proof of many said that it is unrelyable bottle of 97 unfortunately. But Romariz sounds fund! A brand from Taylor's stable we don't hear much about!

[Glenn E.]

I could open a 1997 Niepoort, but I thought it would be more fun to get something from a lesser-known producer. We already know the Niepoort is good from Roy's notes!

I'm not sure that because Roy did stack up on this it means that is good. Proof of many said that it is unrelyable bottle of 97 unfortunately. But Romariz sounds fund! A brand from Taylor's stable we don't hear much about!

I haven't heard of any reliability problems, at least regarding quality. Isn't this the one that seems to have leakage problems, though, due to a problem on the bottling line (and not due to damage)?

There does appear to be something weird going on with the links to Roy's notes. There are two links to an undated TN of a leaker in the db, but it's so wildly lower in rating than the one from 2004 that it makes me think it's not a valid TN. The fact that it's in the list twice adds more to my suspicion that there's something wrong with that entry in the db.

[Frederick Blais]

There are also reports of high volatile acidity in this Port. I did try it only once and it was not a good experience.

[Al B.]

Warre 1997

Chosen to fit with the FTLOP virtual offline theme for this month, from a half bottle made - curiously - from pale brown glass. Still deeply coloured but with a centre that is now transparent and just a vague hint that this is starting to come out of its teenage angst. A lovely, fruity nose chock full of blackcurrants, surprising in its youthfulness. Fantastic balance in the mouth, masses of fruit but a steely tannic structure never lets the bouncy fruit get out of control. Such fantastic complexity in the mouth with all the components playing well together. Swallowing releases a huge aftertaste that is dominated by a dark chocolate from the ripe tannin that lasts a very long time. This is really super port which will be quite fantastic in another 10-20 years. 92/100.

[Frederick Blais]

Interesting enough I did chose that bottle too last night. I wanted to cook something that could match with Port as the main course. I did a beef rack with 5 pepper/blackcurrant/blueberries and Warre's 97 gravy and cook that all togheter. It was simply delicious, my friend could not believe how good the port was with the meal. My impression were similar to yours, I thought though that it could be a little more concentrated for a Warre's especially compared to Gould Campbell, but this stuff is better structured no question there. That nose and the finish where exquisite! Those 1997 are really emerging from their dumb phase I saw 2 years ago, they do seem to age slow too.

Warre 1997

Chosen to fit with the FTLOP virtual offline theme for this month, from a half bottle made - curiously - from pale brown glass. Still deeply coloured but with a centre that is now transparent and just a vague hint that this is starting to come out of its teenage angst. A lovely, fruity nose chock full of blackcurrants, surprising in its youthfulness. Fantastic balance in the mouth, masses of fruit but a steely tannic structure never lets the bouncy fruit get out of control. Such fantastic complexity in the mouth with all the components playing well together. Swallowing releases a huge aftertaste that is dominated by a dark chocolate from the ripe tannin that lasts a very long time. This is really super port which will be quite fantastic in another 10-20 years. 92/100.